Myth or Matter of Fact?

It’s a good idea to sleep in on the weekends to catch up on sleep, especially if you didn’t get much sleep during the work-week...

MYTH! As much as you may like sleeping in until noon on Saturdays, it’s just not the right type of sleep you need! Disrupting a normal sleep routine, by getting a few hours here and a lot of hours there, will only promote less than satisfactory sleep. But don’t feel like you’re alone in your quest for better sleep, the majority of American adults are not getting the sleep they require each night! Experts recommend that the average adult get a full and restful eight hours of sleep each night. Yet, only 32% of adults polled by the National Sleep Federation indicated they got 8 hours or more sleep per night. And, 33% of adults sleep only 6 ½ hours or less per night and 45% of adults admit they sleep less to accomplish more during the rest of their day.

Amazingly, even though Americans are the most sleep-deprived people in the world, planning to accomplish more during their daytime hours, they are actually less productive:

One-half of the American workforce (51%) reports that sleepiness on the job interferes with the amount of work they get done.

40% of adults admit that the quality of their work suffers when they're sleepy.

At least two-thirds of adults say that sleepiness interferes with their concentration (68%) and makes handling stress (66%) on the job more difficult.

Nearly one out of five adults (19%) report making occasional or frequent work errors due to sleepiness.

Overall, employees estimate that the quality and quantity of their work is diminished by about 30% when they are sleepy.

Nearly one out of four adults (24%) has difficulty getting up for work two or more workdays per week.

One-third of adults would nap at work if it were allowed. (Only 16% of employees surveyed reported that their employers allow naps).

43% of adults say they are so sleepy during the day that it interferes with their daily activities a few days a month or more; one out of five (20%) adults experience this level of daytime sleepiness at least a few days per week or more.

Nearly one out of ten adults (7%) admits to having changed jobs in order to get more sleep.